French Pavilion to Feature "Folies Bergere" and Maxim's Among Famous Parisian Attractions

Artist's rendering of the $10 million French Pavilion which will feature over 200 displays dealing with the life and products of France. Work begins shortly on the $10 million French Pavilion which will rise on a 77,000 sq. ft. site in the International Area of the Fair. Anthony B. Golff, president of International Expositions Corporation which is sponsoring the exhibit, first revealed plans for the elaborate pavilion at a reception on December 6th in the Tower Suite of the Time & Life Building. Two of the main attractions to be housed in the colorful complex of modern structures will be a modified version of the original "Folies Bergere," imported from Paris, and Maxims Restaurant. Cross Section of French Life  In addition to dramatizing the best in French food and entertainment, Mr. Golff emphasized that there will be almost 200 exhibits utilizing over 100,000 sq. ft. of space designed to depict a cross section of French life. The French Pavilion will rise on a large terraced and

* * * landscaped plot fronting on the Fair's Lunar Fountain. Architects for the project have used basic shapes for its three buildings -- rectangle, ellipse and pyramid. The raised rectangle will house Maxim's and a variety of industrial exhibits. The ellipse -- designed like a mammoth oval will be the home of the "Folies Bergere." A three- dimensional animated and illuminated model of Paris -- The City of Light -- will be presented in continuous twenty-minute showings in a rotunda beneath the ellipse. The third structure of the pavilion is a massive pyramid rising to a height of 120 feet in an avant-garde simulation of the Eiffel Tower. The French Pavilion will be able to feed 3,500 people at one time in its combined restaurant facilities. Chief consulting architect for the pavilion is Charles Rieger, the well-known French designer, and project architects are Katz, Waisman, Weber, Strauss. The construction is by Rand Construction Company and traffic management by International Expediters, Inc. Exhibit design and production is by 3-Dimension Exhibits of Chicago who have already leased 80,000 sq. ft. of space in Long Island City for the exclusive use of creating and designing French Pavilion exhibit displays.

FRENCH PAVILION UNDER WAY AT SIGNAL FROM CHEVALIER

Maruice Chevalier joined Miss French Pavilion in ceremonies marking the first bulldozer operation at the 77,000 sq. ft. site of the French exhibit. "It has to be beautiful," Chevalier said at the groundbreaking, "to be in harmony with all the beautiful things around it." Suzanne Bernard swings ribbon-bedecked bottle of champagne to break it on a bulldozer during groundbreaking ceremonies for the French Pavilion. Watching Suzanne, who is Miss French Pavilion, are Anthony B. Golff, president of International Expositions Corp., Allen Beach, director of International Exhibits, Robert Moses and Maurice Chevalier.

* * * Fair President Robert Moses presented a silver medallion to Anthony B. Golff, president of International Expositions, Inc., in honor of the occasion at which Ambassador Richard C. Patterson, Jr. acted as Mater of Ceremonies. Allen Beach, director of International Exhibits for the Fair, welcomed the group and read a cable from Governor Poletti who was out of the country at the time. In his own remarks, Robert Moses, president of the Fair, made the quote of the day when he laid to rest once and for all the B.I.E. ghost. "As to the B.I.E.," he said, "we are not, and never could have been, members. The New York Fair is not governmental, and our country could not join the B.I.E. otherwise than by treaty approved by the Senate. Ours is a two, not a one-year Fair; it operates under a charter, rules and regulations entirely out of the B.I.E. jurisdiction. These facts have been certified and publicized over and over again. The subject no longer constitutes news. "One look about you at the multifarious activities at Flushing Meadow will tell you that we deal here with realities and the future, not with cliches, old, unhappy far-off things or battles long ago. We recognize past glories and memories, but our faces are to the future."

... 8 months later, plans have changed!

VARIETY OF COLORFUL ENTERTAINMENT, RIDES AND EDUCATIONAL FEATURES ABOUND IN FAIR'S PAVILIONS

France -- Pavilion of Paris and French Industries -- divided into sections named after the quartiers and famous avenues of the French capital: Champs Elysees, Quartier Latin, Rue de la Paix; the best that France has to offer in fashion, art, culture and consumer products.

SOURCE: Fair News Issues - Official Newsletters of the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair